I'm for banning the sale of hard drugs that cause reckless behavior or cases where one party would be outright exploiting the other. Legalize marijuana, but ban it from recreational public use.

If anyone's caught committing a crime while on drugs, the penalty should be harsher where appropriate.

Other than that, I'm for an 'open drug' policy. I don't think you should need a prescription to buy anything and people should definitely not be prosecuted for "abusing" addictive drugs like pain killers that they orginally took for legitimate medical purposes.

1. If people are stupid enough to self-medicate without consulting a doctor, and they don't do any research themselves, it would simply kill off stupid people. Sounds socially Darwinist, but maybe we need some social Darwinism now and then - as things stand, the weak survive just as much as the strong do, so we aren't evolving like we would be in a more natural environment.

2. Marijuana. Legal. As long as you aren't operating heavy machinery, cars included, while in an intoxicated state, I don't care. Allow privately owned establishments to set their own policy regarding it, and actually public places would likely ban it democratically.

3. Hard Drugs. A difficult subject, especially for things like crack. I think they should be legal, but highly regulated to minimize the harm they do(no rat poison baked in to the crack, for instance). Once again, no operating machinery, ect. Banning them likely wouldn't do much good, like it doesn't do any good now. Spend some of the money formerly spent hunting down drug related activity to fund drug education programs, and tax higher on the heavier drugs to make them less affordable(this strategy is proven to lower smoking rates among teenagers, and thusly smoking rates among adults).

As far as criminal acts go, I am for strong punishment regardless of a high state or not - you are always responsible for your behavior. If you willingly put a mind altering substance into your body, you are responsible for the actions you commit in that state, just as you would be otherwise.

You'll care when they break into your home and steal your tv or hurt a family member.

that's why we also support the right to keep and bear (and use) arms. break into a home with a Bush/Cheney sign in the yard and you know you're just asking for trouble

I'm with the druggies on this one. Why should I have to drive all the way to mexico and smuggle valium and percoset back across? If everything was OTC and taxed, the government could get the tax revenue, the demand wouldn't change, and the increased supply and competition would keep costs down. Everybody wins. (except the poor bastard who breaks into a GOP household at night)

It seems to me that most drugs should be dealt with the same way alcohol is. They should be legal, but regulated and taxed. Prohibition, as we know, does nothing to curb demand or diminish supply. Most are certainly no more or less potentially destructive than alcohol--probably less so in most cases.

Addiction should be treated as a public health issue, not a criminal issue.

...demand wouldn't change... ?? I believe demand would DECREASE since the incentive for pushers to lurk around elementary school playgrounds and give some product away to get new customers hooked would be gone.

If kids decide to try using drugs, it's usally because of their peers at a party, not because of some guy in a dark trenchcoat hanging around the schoolyard. When I was young, we always got stuff from older siblings or friends, not by driving into the inner city or talking to the local burnout.

I'm with the druggies on this one. Why should I have to drive all the way to mexico and smuggle valium and percoset back across? If everything was OTC and taxed, the government could get the tax revenue, the demand wouldn't change, and the increased supply and competition would keep costs down. Everybody wins. (except the poor bastard who breaks into a GOP household at night)

...demand wouldn't change... ?? I believe demand would DECREASE since the incentive for pushers to lurk around elementary school playgrounds and give some product away to get new customers hooked would be gone.

I thought about that even as I was typing. Correct, demand cannot predictably decrease, unless we assume that the demand comes from the fact that whatever's illegal is what people want. You, and many others, have bemoaned the traditionalism that pervades our culture, and you cite it as a reason Bush won. Now, if you really believe that, you cannot turn around and claim that nonconformity dictates demand. That is, trying to have it both ways, or either way, whichever is convenient for the present argumentative purpose, is patently illogical. But, all that logic aside for the moment, you're probably right that some folks want to try stuff just because mommy and daddy say "no" Still, mommy and daddy are no less likely to say no to stuff like valium, percoset, dilaudid, morphine, etc., just because it becomes available over-the-counter. I don't think your argument will stand the test of objectivity. Or logic.

You'll care when they break into your home and steal your tv or hurt a family member.

In my opinion laws against drugs create a booming black market business for criminals, which causes other crimes. You get users and pushers shooting each other, drug gangs shooting each other over turf wars and innocent people getting hit in the crossfire. Also the high cost of illegal drugs causes users to resort to crime to support their habit.

We had a similar situation during prohibition. The murder rate was higher then than it is now. Prohibition was repealled in December of 1933 and the murder rate dropped rapidly afterward.http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance/hmrt.htm

As far as breaking and entry goes, my opinion and I think yours, is that the intruder should get six brand new .38 dia holes in his ass.

Don't let the drug industry be privatized though (I'm somewhat in favor of nationalizing the cigarette industry too, shrug). Tax it, make it as safe as possible, and warn people about it. After that, they can hurt themselves if they want to. Suicide should be legalized too.